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One Summer in Europe: Denmark

Billund (Legoland)

The entrance to Legoland Billund (Denmark), the original

Despite having visited Legoland Florida, while in Denmark I had to still see the original Legoland and Lego headquarters. The park was similar to the one in the States, although it contained a few more rides. They were again all targeted to kids though, so I did not go on many. I still had a good time though wandering about the park, enjoying the impressive Lego sculptures, and seeing the kids and families having fun. The highlight was again Miniland, with the large scale, elaborate recreations of places around the world. The scenes mostly depicted European spots (some of which I would later see first hand). The displays were impressive enough in their own right, and the fact they were made from Lego bricks only added to their appeal.

After touring the park I wandered past Lego Headquarters, which unfortunately did not have anything for the public, except a few large Lego blocks outside. Through the windows I could see many Lego sets throughout the offices, although none had trains circling their cubes, as mine had back when I worked. There were not any help wanted signs in the window either.

Copenhagen

I stopped in Copenhagen on my way up to Scandinavia, but did not discover much here for me. The city had its charm and personality, but nothing that captivated me. Their national museum was done well, but Danish history was not that intriguing for me. The toy exhibition inside did not even have anything on Lego, despite it being invited here. The famous Little Mermaid statue was not much to look at, as my guidebook predicted. The infamous Christiania area was not much either, just a bunch of hippies and potheads opening selling and smoking hash.

Pictures around Copenhagen

The Little Mermaid statue
The twisty steeple of Our Savior’s Church
The six Viking ships at the Roskilde Viking Ship Museum that were found at the bottom of a fjord

I visited the nearby Roskilde Viking Ship Museum. Six ancient Viking ships were found scuttled nearby, and a museum sprung up for them. Most of the wood from the boats had rotted away, but the remaining planks had been painstakingly pieced back together. A metal skeleton showed their original, large size. A exhibit depicted a theoretical sea based attack that may have been the reason these boats were sunk in the first place. The museum also included a section that hand built Viking ships using traditional methods. The practitioner put much skilled work and effort into building these boats. Every piece took such a long time. The man hours to create a single plank of wood were incredible.

The fun part though was an expedition on a recreated Viking boat. Twelve of us rowed out of the harbor, although in a very uncoordinated fashion. We then raised the sail and sailed around the harbor. The little boat and square sail caught a lot of wind and sped quickly along. The boat ran very low in the water and had almost no keel, so it rocked quiet a bit even in the clam seas of the inlet. I could not image how these vessels were sailed across open water.